Chapter 36: Delusions and Illusions

"God fucking damn it!"

"Civilians died, again!"

"That's because they're blocking the way!"

Cars, debris, a cloud of dust, scattered everywhere, surrounded by a collection of buildings that seemed to be serving as their perimeter. And right in the middle of it was Gary, surrounded by a dozen bodies sprawled lifelessly on the ground.

As for Scarlet Mage and the other students, they were currently watching from above. Not in some kind of aircraft, but in a room that was disguised as a cloud in the sky. Yes, they were still inside the Academy; deep underground in one of its colossal training halls.

Most of the students were shocked that the Academy still went deeper into the ground, as anything beneath the surface was no longer drawn on the map provided for them. But if it had a room like this; capable of storing its own tiny city, then they could only wonder just how huge the underground is.

"L… let me go again!"

"Then go back to your starting position, Dragon Monarch," Scarlet Mage's frustrated sighs could be heard by the students. They were used to their advisor being strict and somewhat moody… but for some reason, for the past few days, even when she was clearly annoyed, she would always smile as soon as she faced her students.

It has been a week since Scarlet Mage and Riley's… heated discussion, and the two had not met alone even once. But still, now, Scarlet Mage did not mind. Unlike before when she felt some sort of poison building up inside her, everything seems clearer now.

She no longer finds herself staring in the dark, longing for something that she knew is never meant to be. They haven't met alone for a week, yes; but it was completely different now. Riley was looking at her, he was looking at her without any reservations.

Riley had trouble looking people in the eyes, but not hers, not anymore-- and this was enough; this meant that in some way, Riley trusts her.

Scarlet Mage then walked towards the corner of the room they were in, with a wall filled with screens that showed parts of the training hall beneath them. Of course, as she walked past the students, her eyes instinctively landed at Riley, who immediately nodded at her as their eyes met.

Scarlet Mage quickly smiled upon the act-- it was as if the two had their own language that only they could understand.

"I'm restarting the scenario, Dragon Monarch," Scarlet Mage then said as she placed her hand on one of the screens, "Are you ready?"

"The Dragon Monarch is always ready!"

"...Right, last chance. If you kill another civilian, no points for you, you got it?"

"Let's do this shit!"

Hearing Gary's loud voice piercing through the intercom, Scarlet Mage could not help but once again sigh before tapping something on the screen.

And as soon as she did so, the scenery beneath them instantly changed. The dust that covered the entire mini city, gone. The cars that were scattered everywhere turned into some sort of metal boxes, as well as the debris.

The buildings that served as a perimeter were now also just a towering block of metal. But perhaps the most noticeable of all, were the dozens of bodies scattered on the ground-- they all stood up.

Their previous life-like bodies, now turned into mannequins, moved on their own.

The training hall was some sort of augmented reality almost perfected-- a technology that has not yet been developed this far in the outside world. The students were in awe the first time they saw this; Riley, however, had a slight frown on his face.

Once again, the Academy showcased a technology ahead of everything else. Even the mannequins… the robots that could move on their own without any external support wasn't something that the outside world had access to.

Could Mega Woman have shared knowledge of her world with the government? But since the Academy had most probably been built for years now, then that would mean she would have had to tell them a long time ago.

But Mega Woman has a great dislike for the government, so that was next to impossible. Could they be doing something to her right now, when she was vulnerable?-- No, the timeline doesn't match.

Perhaps… the time for Riley B to do something is soon to come. But for now, he should focus on his retirement, he thought as he looked out the window to watch Gary.

The scenery below once again regained its color, turning the city of metal into the city full of life it was just minutes ago.

"C'mon Dragon Monarch, you could do this. I believe in you."

"..."

The students all looked at each other as they could hear Gary whispering to himself through the speakers. Most of them could not help but wince; it was a good thing that none of them volunteered to be first, if not, they wouldn't have known that everything they do in the training hall could be heard and seen by everyone else.

Gary's breaths then whispered into their ears as he continued to hype himself up. In front of him were 12 life-like robots. 8 civilians were scattered in a circle, seemingly watching from the side as some sort of situation was happening in the middle.

There were 3 offenders, with one of them being a supervillain. As for the last robot, she was a hostage that was being held by the supposed supervillain as the two other offenders guarded them.

"Haha! Let us go if you don't want the blood of the innocent in your hands!"

"Shut the fuck up, man. Just how many times…" Gary muttered frustratingly as he looked at the supervillain grabbing the hostage. He then looked around him, only to see the 8 civilians surrounding them with their phones up, seemingly taking a video of the situation.

"God damn it, all of you go away! Why the heck is this so realistic!?"

Gary had already failed twice, with accidentally harming the civilians being the reason for both. Suffice to say, he was at his wit's end.

On his first try, he was successful in quickly dealing with the two non-super offenders. However, as he did so, the supervillain acted and was about to kill the hostage; and so, in panic, Gary released his heat vision… hitting the hostage.

In his second try, he tried to rescue the hostage as fast as possible; rushing towards the supervillain and snapping its neck; of course, this would mean a minus in points, but he didn't care. He then grabbed the hostage away, but as he did so, the 2 non-supers started shooting at him.

He was able to dispatch the non-supers-- but not before they killed most of the bystanders.

And now, in his last attempt, he was going to try something he had never done before, stealth. He was now hiding in one of the bystanders, trying to get into position behind the villains.

"Ah, it's the Dragon Monarch!"

"What--"

And before Gary could even finish his words, the sound of guns being unloaded thundered throughout the simulated city.

"W… what was that, Scarlet Mage!?" Gary then roared as soon as the parade of bullets was over.

"You failed," was Scarlet Mage's response as the city once again lost its life and color.

"But that wasn't fair! One of the civilians ratted me out!"

"You're a loud and extroverted superhero, Gary. Of course, they would recognize you. Return to the elevator and come back up."

"This…"

Gary seemed to be complaining more, but Scarlet Mage had already turned off the speakers in the room. And finally, after a few more minutes of dancing around like a monkey, Gary got tired and returned to the control room.

"Don't be so down, Gary. It was a nice attempt… I think I would fail as well in your scenario."

"Why does it sound like you're mocking me instead?"

"W… what, not at all." Silvie immediately shook her head as she tried her best to console Gary.

"Good work, Gary."

"Thank you, Rile-- Wait, what do you mean 'good work'!? I killed civilians, bro!"

"Yes. Their screams were--"

"Who is going next!?"

Before Riley could finish whatever it was he was going to say, Scarlet Mage's voice reverberated throughout the entire room, causing all of the students to slightly flinch in shock.

"Me! Me!" Their shock was only momentarily, however, as Bella immediately stepped forward while waving her hand up.

"Alright, you can step on the elevator as soon as you're ready. You only get three tries, so I suggest you do your best, Black Bell," Scarlet Mage said as she turned her attention back to the screens on the wall, swiping her hands on it until Bella's profile came up.

"This should be easy, see you weaklings later!" Bella cracked her knuckles as she stepped on the elevator. She had already thought of a dozen scenarios while Gary doing the simulation, and since her powers were manipulating and controlling metals, the city scenario was basically her playground.

Bella then began stretching on the elevator as she waited for them to land on the ground. And finally, after a few more seconds, the door opened up.

"Let's do-- what?"

However, what welcomed her was not a city filled with buildings and vehicles; but rather, a forest that was surrounded by a cliff. The arrangement of the robots was also different, with most of them nowhere to be seen.

"W… what? Where's the city!?" Bella yelled as she looked up towards the window where the others were watching.

"The scenario is different from student to student, Black Bell."

"What about the hostage?"

"I can't tell you, this is your scenario."

"W… what?" Black Bell then looked towards the 4 life-like robots in the middle of the training hall; one was wearing a costume, while the three just had bandanas on, holding guns in their hands.

They seemed to be guarding some sort of cabin, which most probably held the hostages, Bella thought. She was a bit perplexed at first with the sudden change, but still, she quickly composed herself after a few minutes.

There might not be cars or an abundance of metal in her scenario… but in truth, she was surrounded by metal. The trees, the cliffs, maybe even the wooden cabin; underneath the hologram was metal.

This was her domain.

"Forget about controlling most of the objects in your surroundings."

And midway through her thoughts, Scarlet Mage's voice resounded in the training hall.

"They are made from some sort of tempered plastic."

"Wait… what?" Bella muttered as she quickly tried to move one of the trees, but found herself unable to do so.

"And even if they were made of metal, you're not allowed to move them in the first place… you're in a forest, act like it."

As soon as the students heard Scarlet Mage's words, they finally understood the true meaning of the exercise. They were told that this was to train them in hostage situations; but now, they were realizing there was another purpose.

The scenarios were solely tailored for each of them to fail… or at least to defy the odds.